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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458234">Of Sparring and Bantering</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingInToThePages/pseuds/FallingInToThePages'>FallingInToThePages</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Between Episodes, Between Seasons/Series, Character Study, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Platonic Levi &amp; Eren Yeager, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Female Titan Arc, Prompt Fic, Some Humor, Sparring, Swearing, Team Bonding, Training, like so much swearing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:27:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,956</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458234</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingInToThePages/pseuds/FallingInToThePages</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi might have an affinity for freak-ish people, so it only makes sense that he has a strange way of making friends.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Gen! Eren Yeager &amp; Levi with some Gen! Original Special Operations Squad/ Levi Squad because they died way too soon.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi &amp; Eren Yeager, Levi &amp; Special Operations Squad | Squad Levi, Oluo Bozado &amp; Eld Jinn &amp; Petra Ral &amp; Gunther Schultz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Gen and Aro Prompts (Any fandom)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Of Sparring and Bantering</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">



        <li>In response to a prompt by
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_cat/pseuds/e_cat">e_cat</a>  in the  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/GenAndAroPrompts">GenAndAroPrompts</a>
          collection.
        </li>
    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey guys!<br/>I've been in a 5-6 month creative block with both writing and art (BLEGH), so I wanted to get back into writing with the help of a prompt.<br/>As I recently go back into AOT, I decided to write a Gen/Aro fic with the prompt: </p><p>"Any fandom you wish!<br/>Just, the idea of mutual pining, but with friends. Two people who are convinced the other doesn't want to be friends with them, despite clear signs to the opposite. Bonus points for slow burn friendship.<br/>Can also work for a QPR if you'd like," by @e_cat</p><p>I hope you guys enjoy it and thank you so much for the prompt, @e_cat!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If there was one thing Levi Ackerman hated most in the world (besides Titans and social injustice), it had to be this disgusting thing called...socializing. He could deal with having to bark orders at unruly subordinates; bonding with his squad on a superficial level; and sometimes even handle Hange's energetic rambling once a blue moon. Anything beyond that was too much-- has been too much ever since he lost Isabel and Farlan-- especially when he had to deal with years of unnecessary deaths as a Corporal of the most unpredictable branch of the army.</p><p>All of that changed when a certain Titan-Shifter fell right in front of his feet...or under his feet, he supposed.</p><p>Blinking out of thought, Levi glanced towards the German soldier as he trained with the rest of the Special Operations Squad-- the man instantly tch-ing in annoyance as Oluo’s impressions and Petra’s irritated grumbling drifted towards him. The notoriously grumpy Corporal was overlooking their hand-to-hand combat lessons; a quiet, familiar reprieve from Hange’s experiments and the troubled planning for the upcoming expedition and eventual influx of trainees.</p><p>Having dealt with Oluo’s haughty and extremely poor (definitely inaccurate) impressions ever since the man joined the Survey Corps, Levi had to put his foot down. Especially once he noticed that the man had begun to add a cravat to his uniform and began to sport an undercut.</p><p>“Oi, Bozado!” He yelled towards the group as he marched towards them, making all of them pale and stand ram-rod straight. “Since you seem so set on annoying everyone with your shitty impressions, why don’t you try to copy my fighting style as well?”</p><p>Levi settled into a relaxed fighting position, his stone-grey eyes blank and cold despite the wave of amusement that washed over him at the sight of the veteran. Oluo...was scared shitless. His long, wrinkled face was stretched out in uncharacteristic terror as he stared at his superior. With a quick flick of his eyes, Levi noticed how everyone else was looking at Oluo with varying levels of horror and pity-- the most pity coming from Eren.</p><p>“...”</p><p>“Well?”</p><p>“O-Of course, Corporal Levi,” Oluo sweated nervously as he settled into his own sparring form, his long limbs pulled tight to his body and his shaking legs spaced much too close to each other.</p><p>Levi scoffed at the man’s poor posture before starting the spar session with a roundhouse kick towards Oluo’s guarded chest. Catching the man’s arms and knocking him off balance, Levi made quick work with the man and trapped him in a head-lock. Oluo yelped as he found himself face-first in the patch of grass underneath them, his arms pinned under him and his legs flailing for purchase as Levi latched himself onto his lower back.</p><p>“I always thought our hand-to-hand combat lessons were shit, but this…this is just sad,” Levi grumbled as he let the man go, his lips twitching slightly as the man dramatically gasped for air and curled into himself like a dejected snail. Levi turned his stern gaze onto the rest of the squad and crossed his arms.</p><p>“Are the rest of you just as bad?”</p><p>They all froze as they looked up from Oluo, their amused faces fell and their snickers faded into a crushing silence. The veterans gazed past Levi’s shoulder, their faces shadowed by fear as they mentally reviewed their individual skill sets. It couldn’t be their fault that their training mainly consisted of 3DMG, fitness, and basic hand-to-hand combat lessons, right? What use was hand-to-hand when they went up against towering giants?</p><p>What caught Levi’s eye, however, was Eren’s determined yet cautiously confident expression. Levi quirked a brow at the boy and caught his gaze, “Something you want to share with the class, Yeager?”</p><p>Eren jumped at being addressed before looking the man in the eye, “I may know a few...advanced moves, sir,” he blushed as Levi’s eyebrow rose significantly higher.</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>Levi wordlessly beckoned for the boy to follow him towards the spot that Oluo was moping, the man being forced to stand up and join the others on the side-line, where he was silently clowned on.</p><p>"Pay attention, dipshits,” Levi scolded them with clear fondness, his steel colored eyes once more reflecting his internal mirth as he caught sight of Petra prodding the down-trodden man. Watching them quiet down, Levi turned his attention back to the brat and fell into position once more.<br/>
</p><p>“I’m not going to go easy on you, brat.”</p><p>“Of course, Sir!”</p><p>And with that, the sparring began with a renewed intensity. Levi threw a punch towards the shifter’s face, his fist thrown off course as the teen swiftly evaded it by simply crouching down and moving towards the side. Eren jabbed at Levi’s exposed chest, much too soft to wind the man, before he side-stepped the man once more.</p><p>Scoffing at the unforeseen challenge, Levi straightened himself back into his stance and eyed the boy as they rounded each other. Eren’s face was pulled into an expression of unbounded determination, an expression that weakly called back to the intense, almost feral gleam that had overtaken those turquoise eyes. That ferocious display had called to Levi then. Called for him to fight, to live, and to hope.</p><p>It had been strange to feel any sort of kindredness with a stranger, especially one who was accused of being a Titan among men. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.</p><p>If it had been anyone else in Levi’s shoes, they likely would have overlooked such a stranger and ran like hell itself was on their heels. But for Levi, a thug turned respected official, such a connection was worth some contemplation within the confines of their small world.</p><p>So, he did the only thing that he knew would make them friends, which was to kick the utter shit out of him. Worked with Erwin and Hanji, and the two of them are just as freakish as Jeager.</p><p>Speaking of Jeager, Levi was reminded of their intense sparring session by the quick flick of the teenager’s fist. The jab didn’t land this time, as Levi quickly grabbed and twisted the appendage into an unnatural angle while he swept the boy’s feet out from under him. Eren grunted as he collapsed onto the grass, his arm still twisted and the wind knocked out of him as Levi pinned him to the ground with a well placed knee to the middle of his back.</p><p>“You call that advanced, brat?” Levi tch-ed, “I’d find a better fight if I walked into a yarn shop and threw hands with some old hag--aren’t you going to at least use some of your freak-ish, titan strength?” Levi cuffed the back of Eren’s head with his free hand, absolutely furious with the idea that the boy was going soft on him.</p><p>“Are you sure, Sir?” Eren gasped out worriedly, his eyes wide as he tried to glance back at the infuriated corporal.</p><p>“Am I sure?” Levi snarled, his eyes a sliver of color as a glared down at the boy, “Of fucking course I’m sure, brat! If you plan on wasting anymore of my time Cadet, I’ll make you clean the entire castle with a fucking toothbrush,” Levi threatened the teen as he firmly yanked the boy’s arm closer to his back.</p><p>Eren gritted his teeth as he bit back a high pitched shriek at the harsh move. Quickly seizing the ground with his free hand and his knees, Eren threw his admittedly light weight against the Corporal’s hold. Levi remained unmoved under the boy’s struggling until a particularly powerful toss forced him to rebalance himself onto his non-dominant knee and to loosen his hold on Eren’s arm.</p><p>Taking advantage of this brief reprieve, Eren rolled with the momentum until he was able to free himself entirely and was able to deliver a few swift blows to Levi’s torso before he distanced himself from the older man. Shaking out his arm, Eren forced himself into an imitation of Annie’s signature fighting stance while he waited for his corporal to get his bearings.</p><p>Levi chuckled as he gracefully pulled himself up off of the ground, his fingers lightly grazing the points where Eren had punched him. Levi glanced to his squad when he caught the tail-end of their shocked yet eager whooping and hollering, his narrowed eyes softening as he caught sight of their care-free expressions.</p><p>“Ugh, I’m really gonna have to whoop your ass for that, Yeager,” Levi chuckled as he smirked at the boy’s frustrated yet brazen face. He observed the altered stance with a fascinated eye before he blinked at the chuckle that left the young soldier.</p><p>“That’s not gonna happen anytime soon, Sir,” Eren quipped as they began to round and observe each other once more, the rest of the squad falling to a hush as they watched the sparring match with rampant attention.</p><p>“You told me to not hold back anymore, right, Sir?”</p><p>“Hell yeah I did brat, don’t you dare make me repeat myself,” Eren beamed at the older man, excitement and anticipation clear on his features as he hastily cleared his throat and strengthened his stance.</p><p>“I’ll hold you to the same standards, Sir!” And with that, Eren flew towards the man with a firm side whip kick, his kick hitting Levi’s block with a resounding thump that forced the man to tumble to the side. The man’s arm throbbed with a burst of pain, but he couldn’t give it much thought as Eren tried to follow through and pin him in return.</p><p>Levi depth-ly evaded the move as he rolled onto his feet and kicked the boy in the side, a disgusting crack sounded in the small clearing, making the onlookers flinch in sympathy and shock.</p><p>“Be careful, Corporal!” Petra shouted at the man, her worried yells a rather ironic twist on the spoon incident that had occurred a few days ago. She squeaked when amused and un-amused eyes landed on her from multiple sources, although she didn’t refrain from smacking a snickering Gunther’s arm.</p><p>Turning his attention back onto the boy, Levi hastily charged the momentarily weakened boy, knowing all too well that the dazed look would quickly leave the shifter’s face once the wound healed. Going for the boy’s temple, Levi was more than a little surprised to see the boy duck under his arm and to feel the kid grab him around the torso.</p><p>With a quick tug of the arm, Levi watched the clouds swirl together overhead in a dizzying blur as he was thrown over Eren’s shoulder. The world seemed like it would never stop moving until Levi met the ground with an awful sounding crash. While the grass was a soft embrace that tickled his neck, the soil underneath was hardly as sweet as it practically pummeled him in revenge.</p><p>“GUH!”</p><p>“...”</p><p>“...”</p><p>In the following silence, Levi was grateful that he was left unpinned-- despite the fact that it made him feel like a reprimanded toddler or trainee, left to mop and reflect upon their misbehavior. Staring up at the sky for a few minutes and trying to gather his wits, Levi instinctively flinched when a hand filled his vision before he relaxed at the sight of Eren’s flushed and pinched expression.</p><p>“Are you okay, Sir?” He asked in a firm voice, his tone barely portraying any sort of concern or reproach even as he offered to help his superior officer up off of the ground.</p><p>Levi groaned as he slapped the boy’s hand away and pushed himself up to regard his charge with a squinted look.<br/>
</p><p>“Where the hell did you learn that move, Eren? I know for sure that that whiny fuck Shadis knows fuck-all ‘bout hand-to-hand.” The questioned boy flushed even more and scrubbed the back of his head with his rejected hand.</p><p>“Er, I often sparred with a fellow Cadet during my trainee days-- Cadet Leonhart, Sir,” he told the man, “She tended to favor that move when she went up against me and anyone else who was forced into challenging her.”</p><p>“Forced, eh?” Levi chuckled as he finally stood up and weakly wiped off the dirt on his uniform, “She that scary, brat?” Eren shrugged.</p><p>“I guess, yeah. I don’t think she’s as scary as Mikasa can get, though-- Mikasa’s on a whole other level when she feels like she needs to kick the shit out of someone,” he shuddered a little at the thought of his adopted sister. They’ve been together through hell and he loved her and Armin with all of his heart, but once that glint comes to her eye it’s every man for himself.</p><p>Levi chuckled at that and gave the boy a rather warm look for his countenance. “I’d like to meet Cadet Ackerman, actually. I think we’d get along pretty well,” he thought aloud (a rather ominous and terrifying thought for Eren, kind of like hearing that Commander Pixis and Commander Erwin planned on teaming up together. It would surely become chaotic for Eren and Armin if Levi and Mikasa decided to become friends for some reason.), before he clasped the spunky teenager’s shoulder and nodded up at him.</p><p>“Thank you for your work today Eren, I think that was a proper demonstration for these asswipes,” Levi turned his gaze upon his teammates, those steely eyes a much softer ore than the veterans were used to seeing. Instead of the usual stone or ice, the team were subjected to a gaze that was much like aluminium; a soft gray that seemed to melt under the setting sun without the harshness that they were used to seeing in the man.</p><p>Sure, it could harden once more with the right amount of force and the right materials, but the group was happy to find themselves looking into a side that very few were privy to.</p><p>“Of course, Sir!” They saluted their corporal with bright grins and relaxed forms.</p><p>“We’ll make sure to practice these different forms of combat, Corporal,” Eld reassured his superior and the others agreed with the same fervor. Which only earned them a fond eye-roll and a quick dismissal to take showers, lest they track a bunch of dirt into the dining hall.</p><p>“Oi, Eren. Stay back a bit, I want to talk to you about something.”</p><p>Eren quietly gulped at the order, almost choking on the water that he was guzzling from his waterskin. “Of course, Sir,” he replied timidly, not too subtly calling out to the others with a longing gaze. Please don't leave him alone with the man that he had just beaten, it cried.</p><p>When they continued on with their short trek, Eren scrounged around the almost endless pit of his confidence for the will to face his intimidating, superior officer. Facing the seemingly relaxed man with a brave face, Eren forced himself to stand at ease as he met the man’s gaze.</p><p>“Is something wrong, Sir?”</p><p>Levi rolled his eyes at the formality, “I’m not going to beat you up any further, Yeager. I just wanted to make sure that there were no hard feelings between us, especially given how we met and how I'm supposed to...terminate you given the situation.”</p><p>Eren blinked at the older man in barely concealed shock, “O-of course not, Sir! I'm completely fine with sparring,” Eren shouted a bit too enthusiastically and promptly flushed when Levi flinched at the high pitch and volume. </p><p>“Err, it’s just...that was really fun, Sir. I’ve never gotten to spar with anyone to that extent since I’ve always been afraid of hurting them,” Eren continued to ramble a bit more under Levi’s signature aloof, “Go on idiot, I’m listening,” stare.</p><p>“Oi, I get it, Eren,” Levi sighed in exasperation as the boy began to prattle longer than expected, his hand coming to massage away his growing headache. “I’ve been...unable to train as well given my own strength, so I…” Levi trailed off as he scrunched his nose in distaste towards his inability to verbalize his thoughts.</p><p>“I think we should continue sparring together, is what I’m saying-- and before you begin to blubber about hurting your superior officer and whatever, be assured that I don’t break easily,” Levi glared up at the boy, unintentionally making the kid cower so that they were relatively eye-level.</p><p>“Of course, Sir,” Eren replied rather dejectedly, which made Levi scowl even harder. He hadn’t meant to scold the child, Maria help him!</p><p>“Eren! Stop cowering like that, you fucking giant! I’m trying to say that I-- I want to be your friend, you dumb brat!” Levi blushed lightly at the childish wording, the man actually beginning to feel a little ill at the completely unnatural conversation taking place. He couldn’t be-- he shouldn’t be talking about his feelings and shit like this! It’ll give him a heart condition, Maria damn it. And he told the brat just that.</p><p>“Don’t make yourself ill, Corporal! I’ll be your friend,” Eren placated the man with a bewildered tone, his stance once more bordering on hovering and cowering as he tried to examine the man’s flushed face. Doctor’s son and all that.</p><p>“Back off, you little nitwit! I’m fine,” he snapped as he forced the light pigmentation off of his checks and once more glared at his subordinate.</p><p>“As your friend and legally appointed guardian, I order you to not patronize me like some child.”</p><p>“Of course, Sir!”</p><p>“Now off to the showers with you-- and don’t try to sneak any snacks off of Moblit or Hange again, you’ll ruin your appetite and waste rations like those pigs in Sina. Do you wanna be a pig, brat?”</p><p>“Yes, Sir-- I mean, no, Sir!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well--<br/>I hope you guys enjoy this piece and that no one was too off, lol<br/>You could probably tell that I had too much fun with this, but c'est la vie :)<br/>I might make a series like this, but don't be surprised if a lot of it isn't updated too frequently, given how blocked I've been.<br/>Anyways, I hope you guys have a good night/day! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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